A new goal: World Cup kicks off change on and off-pitch for women’s football
The growth of women’s football provides a real opportunity to be grasped, sustained and progressed both on and off the pitch.
The ninth FIFA Women’s World Cup kicked off earlier this month with 32 teams playing, compared to 24 in 2019 and 12 in 1991.
Funding also increased 300% compared to 2019 – and, despite the late signing of TV right deals, the distinct possibility of an increased number of viewers compared to 28 million people who watched the BBC’s coverage of the 2019 event in France.
Testimonies to the growth of women’s football have not been hard to find.
USA star and activist Megan Rapinoe stated: “It feels like a real opportunity to blow the lid off in terms of fanfare and media and sponsorships and the larger business around
this sport.” The tournament comes on the back of the Carney Review proclaiming “women’s football in England could be a ‘billion-pound industry’ in the next 10 years”.
And last year attendance at SWPL matches in Scotland surpassed 100,000 for the first time. The comparative
coverage of the 2015 and 2019 Women’s World Cups reveals an upward trajectory.
The top-five FIFA ranked teams are present (USA, Germany, Sweden, England France). And 25% of the nations competing have qualified for the first time – Haiti, Morocco, Panama, the Philippines,
Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Vietnam and Zambia.
In Sam Kerr, Australia has a captain and striker that makes most top-five women player lists globally. Canada boasts one of the superstars of the women’s game in Christine Sinclair. Her tally of 190 goals makes her the highest-scoring player in international football – well ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s tally of 123.
All of these factors and more have the 2023 World Cup billed as the biggest women’s football event and one of the biggest sports events for women in the world. The tournament presents a month of visibility for women’s football. Growth tends to follow visibility.
Inequality gaps still remain. Women-led reviews call for minimum standards across corporate structures, the professional environment, fan experience and grassroots. Financial and TV rights disputes underpinned the build-up to the tournament. Investment, recognition, the closure of inequality gaps and genuine football for all remains work in progress.
Perhaps the greatest success will be off the pitch, where nations learn how to harness the reach of football to enable a difference in the most challenging of circumstances.
For Australia and New Zealand, the tournament provides an opportunity to progress reconciliation with indigenous peoples.
On arriving in Australia FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura reflected that “nothing else in the world, including UN peacekeepers and good-natured politicians, can do what soccer does for African countries”.
The message from Haitian player Kerly Theus was for girls in her country: “Keep pushing, keep driving and this moment, you’ll have it too when it’s your time.” The goalkeeper was aware the media attention could help change the conversation about Haiti.
Her teammates added: “We’re going to a World Cup. We have been through a lot together. But these are the moments we live for. We’re trying to bring back the light to Haiti for sure…The team is on an upward trajectory, a symbol for change.”
On and off the pitch, the 2023 Women’s World Cup offers visibility, growth, opportunity and a symbol of change.